abcnovels
Vol. 2 Chapter 74: Chapter 74
Vol. 2 Chapter 74: Chapter 74
Vol. 2 Chapter 74: Chapter 74
Translated by Chef
Edited by Chef
“See you later then. Please eat well.”
“Yes. Please be sure to say thank you to your mother.”
Yoon Ahreum snorted with laughter when she saw the dog watching to avoid coming out.
“Kong lives there. I’ll have to go home and have your sister eat all the snacks by herself.”
At the words of Yoon Ahreum, Kong ran over as if it had never happened before, clinging to her side and wagging his tail. Inseop smiled and stroked her dog’s head.
“Rest well.”
After Yoon Ahreum left, Inseop sat down. The nausea that he had barely suppressed rose up. It wasn’t until he squatted for a while that his stomach started to ache.
He barely managed to raise his head, and the box containing the trophy caught his eye. He went to the box, took out the trophies inside, and counted them. There were twenty-three. These were things that could not be bought even with money. He didn’t know about others, but he had to return this. He decided that while giving, he should also give the check.
Inseop took out his cell phone. As he was about to call CEO Kim, he stopped and retracted his hand. He recalled the voice of CEO Kim, who had firmly said that only he would be in trouble.
What should he do?
Inseop looked down at the trophy. He knew better than anyone else what kind of effort Lee Wooyeon had put in to receive it.
Inseop found Lee Wooyeon’s name on the list. The conversation will happen with just one touch of his finger, but his hand hardly moved.
He had cold sweats and felt nauseous. Inseop took a deep breath. It was clear that if he postponed the call until later, he would never be able to return the trophy.
Inseop bit his lips and moved his fingers. His heart started pounding when he heard the ringtone. He tightened his grip on his cell phone because he was afraid he would lose it. But even after a while, the phone did not connect.
“… ”
Only then did Inseop realize how foolish he had been. It has never occurred to him that the other person might not receive it.
Of course.
<Hello.>
Inseop was startled by the sudden voice and swallowed his breath.
<Did you dial the wrong number?>
To Lee Wooyeon’s question, Inseop answered, “I didn’t.”
It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. Inseop caught his breath and continued speaking.
“I’m sorry for calling you suddenly. Can you talk?”
<Yes.>
A short answer came back.
“It’s nothing. While I was unpacking, I found your belongings, so I called.”
<Throw it away.>
Lee Wooyeon answered without even asking what it was.
“It’s a trophy.”
<You can’t throw away the trophy? You can just separate the waste.>
When the unexpected answer came back, Inseop was shocked and was speechless for a moment.
“…Please tell me your address and I will send it to you by courier.”
A sigh came from the other end of the phone.
<It’s annoying for both of us. Just throw it away.>
Inseop’s fingertips trembled when he heard that it was annoying. He needed to say something, but his mind felt empty. He started feeling nauseous, which had barely subsided.
<Food… >
“Yes?”
<Are you eating well?
Even though he knew that this was just a question asked out of courtesy, Inseop shed tears without realizing it.
“Yes. I’m eating well.”
Inseop answered, hastily wiping away his tears. Even though he vomited every time he ate, he was eating all three meals a day.
<How are you feeling?>
“There’s nothing wrong.”
He kept vomiting, so he went to the hospital again for a checkup, but he said there was nothing wrong with him, so he wasn’t entirely wrong.
He was grateful for Lee Wooyeon, he muttered to himself. It felt like someone had poured hot water on his heart.
He had to say something. At that time, a trophy caught Inseop’s eyes.
“… What did you mean to say after the awards ceremony?”
He suddenly asked that question without realizing it. After a moment of silence, Lee Wooyeon calls out, <Mr. Inseop.>
Just hearing his name made his heart beat irregularly.
“Yes.”
<Did you say I’m the first person you dated?>
“… yes. That’s right.”
It was all a first. He learned everything about holding his hand, kissing him, having sex, all these passionate emotions through him.
It was his first love.
<Then this will be the first time you have broken up.>
“…That’s right.”
<Then I guess you don’t know, so I’ll tell you. You shouldn’t call me like this after you break up.>
“..Ah, sorry…”
Inseop stammered an apology.
<And the question you asked earlier probably didn’t mean anything since I don’t remember. I’ll just hang up.>
Just like that, the call was cut off. Inseop stood holding his cell phone for a while.
Lee Wooyeon’s attitude was neat. He did not get angry or raise his voice, and was extremely rational.
Inseop had to admit that, like the person on the screen, he had now become someone he could never reach.
After finishing the call, Lee Wooyeon put his cell phone down next to him. Then he picked up the trophy on the table. This was the grand prize trophy that he received, or should have received, at this film festival.
Lee Wooyeon threw away the trophy with an expressionless face. The trophy that flew away hit the TV screen on the wall with a crackling sound.
“…Lee Wooyeon.”
CEO Kim, who was watching the scene from the side, mumbled his name in confusion.
“Ah, CEO”
Even after destroying a television worth 30 million won in one go, Lee Wooyeon continued speaking with a cool demeanor.
“You need to eat.”
“At night… Okay, let’s eat.”
CEO Kim immediately looked ten years older and set the table with food he bought from the basement of a department store.
“Did you get some sleep?”
“I don’t know. Did I get some sleep?”
Lee Wooyeon responded indifferently and cheerfully sharpened his wooden chopsticks.
CEO Kim flinched at the cracking sound.
“Haha. I won’t die.”
To someone who didn’t know him well, it was a very refreshing smile, but in CEO Kim’s eyes, it seemed absolutely breathtaking. He has no idea how he will suddenly change.
He was like that just a moment ago. When he handed over the trophy he had received instead, Lee Wooyeon looked at the trophy with his mouth closed, as if he was deep in thought. As he was looking at Lee Wooyeon’s thoughtful eyes, he felt sad for some reason and was about to ask him to have a drink together when he got a call from Choi Inseop. Lee Wooyeon glared at his cell phone with expressionless eyes.
‘… Would you like me to answer it instead?’
Instead of answering, Lee Wooyeon pressed a button to start the call. Contrary to his worries, the call continued calmly. Still, CEO Kim felt like he was receiving a little criticism from him, so he patted his chest.
But the relief was short-lived.
As soon as he finished the call, Lee Wooyeon picked up the trophy on the table which he just gave him.
He threw it into the TV.
… he was scared.
CEO Kim sat as far away from Lee Wooyeon as possible and sharpened his chopsticks.
“CEO. Can I ask you one favor?”
“Yeah, no.”
CEO Kim said his true feelings without realizing it, but then quickly changed his stance and said, “I’ll listen to what you have to say.” The table was full of things that could be thrown at him.
“Please send Choi Inseop to America.”
“What?”
“Please buy him a plane ticket. Why is he still in Korea?”
Lee Wooyeon said as he poured dressing on the salad.
“…There are still a lot of things to sort out. Inseop, life doesn’t just end if you cut him off. There will be relationships made here, and the school as well.”
“That’s none of my business, so send him to America right away.”
The chopsticks in Lee Wooyeon’s hand broke weakly.
CEO Kim swallowed dryly.
Previously, Lee Wooyeon had skillfully captured his true self, but now it felt like he was crossing channels without any warning. For example, while cutting a steak, it looked as if he stabbed the person next to him with a knife and then casually cut the steak again and put it in his mouth.
“Ah, okay. I’ll help him clean up as quickly as possible and give him a ticket. That’s okay, right?”
CEO Kim said as he found a fork and handed it to Lee Wooyeon.
“Yes. I’d like to ask you that favor.”
The words were a request, but they were no different from a threat. CEO Kim opened his mouth, rubbing the sweat from his palms onto his favorite silk pants.
“Instead, I also have a condition. If you don’t listen, I won’t listen to your request either.”
Lee Wooyeon, who was eating salad, raised his head.
Why does it look like a carnivore even though it is eating grass?
While CEO Kim was pondering, Lee Wooyeon made a face with his jaw line clearly exposed and he gave him a quick glance as if asking him to speak.
“Since you’re not in good health and public opinion says the same, why don’t you go to the hospital?”
When Lee Wooyeon disappeared during the awards ceremony, despite his pleas to wait a day, an article about Chae Yeonseo’s scandal was posted that evening. There is no way to miss out on such a huge scoop that will create a synergistic effect in the media. The article received an explosive number of views. The Internet was overflowing with unconfirmed rumors about Lee Wooyeon and Chae Yeonseo. Chae Yeonseo said she played around with Lee Wooyeon from the beginning, she said she dated Lee Wooyeon from the beginning, Chae yeonseo said Lee Wooyeon had her but she was meeting another man, etc.
CEO Kim did everything he could as the CEO of his agency to respond. But like a fire spreading through a pile of dry straw, the rumor was not easily extinguished.
In the end, a creepy rumor went around that Lee Wooyeon committed suicide after hearing the news and came to the hospital in an ambulance.
It wasn’t a lie at all since he took Inseop, who had collapsed, to the hospital. After hearing the story, CEO Kim tried to announce that he was better, and that it was because he took the collapsed manager to the hospital. But Lee Wooyeon cut him off with a single sword. If even one line about Choi Inseop is published in an article, he has made it clear that he will not let it go.
In the end, they had to re-announce their position that Lee Wooyeon’s sudden exit from the awards ceremony was due to the actor’s health problems.
“If you are hospitalized even just for a few days, public opinion will calm down a bit and it will be confirmed that it is a health problem.”
“A mental hospital?”
Lee Wooyeon asks in a casual tone.
“No, no. A regular hospital… Of course, you can talk about your insomnia and get a neuropsychiatry consultation.”
Lee Wooyeon laughed lightly. He must have just taken a shower, so his hair was wet and he looked particularly fresh when he smiled.
“I should have put you in a psychiatric unit from the beginning.”
“No, you can just cancel the contract. It’s a hassle, CEO. Ah ha, I guess it won’t work because there’s still more to absorb.”
CEO Kim furrowed his brow.
“No matter what you say, it’s just like that… But the affection that has built up over the years we’ve been together…”
It does not exist. There was no affection.
CEO Kim quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, let’s stay in the hospital for just a few days. People need to sleep to survive. You will collapse.”
Lee Wooyeon replied, “Um, I guess so,” as if talking about someone else’s business.
“…What are you going to do if Inseop really goes to America?”
“Ah, damn it.”
Lee Wooyeon cursed and smiled widely. The neat teeth visible from above and below gave an eerie feeling.
Why did he put a fork in Lee Wooyeon’s hand? It was useless to regret it.
“Whatever. You’re a jerk.”
“… ”
“Just a joke.”
Lee Wooyeon started eating the remaining salad again. No further conversation took place. CEO Kim picked up the sushi and ate it while watching Lee Wooyeon’s thoughts.
After finishing the meal, Lee Wooyeon stood up.
“Then I’d like to ask you both.”
“What?”
“A plane ticket and a hospital.”
Lee Wooyeon found the medicine, swallowed it, and continued speaking.
“I was just thinking that it might be better to be hospitalized, but it turned out well.”
“Why? Why do you think that?”
When Lee Wooyeon showed a normal reaction, CEO Kim became particularly anxious.
“Because it feels like my dreams are mixed up.”
“What do you mean your dreams are mixed up? Are you hearing hallucinations or something? Or do you see something in vain?”
CEO Kim was surprised and asked a lot of questions. He had heard Director Choi tell him to take him to the hospital without delay if he ever gets into that kind of condition.
“…..”
Lee Wooyeon did not answer but looked down at his hands.
“Lee Wooyeon!”
CEO Kim, who was scared by his unusual behavior, shouted his name.
“There have been no advertisement cancellations, right?”
“…Yeah. Not yet.”
CEO Kim responded to the sudden incident with a bewildered expression.
“I’ll pass on the drama I’m planning on joining this time. If there’s a good script for a movie, just get it. It takes time to start production anyway. If the atmosphere is shit, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just go to China or Japan for a while.”
“Of course.”
When Lee Wooyeon explained the direction he had in mind, CEO Kim looked at him like he was possessed by something. For someone who said of his own accord that he needed to be admitted to the hospital, his judgment of the situation was too cold and perfect.
“…Are you okay?”
CEO Kim asked, looking at Lee Wooyeon carefully.
“What if I’m not okay?”
Lee Wooyeon stretched his arms backwards and responded indifferently. Then he said, “You should go,” and walked to the bedroom and lay down on the bed.
“Will you sleep?”
CEO Kim asked, closing his curtains. Lee Wooyeon closed his eyes without answering. CEO Kim quietly closed the door and left the room.